Lifeboat 8

Lifeboat 8
Port lifeboats of the Titanic
Type	Standard
Location on deck	Port forward
Time when launched from Titanic	1:00 A.M.
Launched by officers	Smith, Wilde, Lightoller
Capacity	65
Estimated occupancy at launch	38
Estimated occupancy at rescue	38
Previous lifeboat launched	1
Next lifeboat launched	16

Boat 8 was a lifeboat loaded under the supervision of Second Officer Lightoller and launched at about 1:00 A.M, with Captain Smith and Chief Officer Wilde also participating.

Isidor and Ida Straus, who refused to board a lifeboat while there were younger people still waiting to board

Ida Straus was asked to join a group of people preparing to board but refused, saying: "I will not be separated from my husband Isidor Straus. As we have lived, so will we die – together." The 67-year-old Isidor likewise refused an offer to board on account of his age, saying: "I do not wish any distinction in my favour which is not granted to others." Both Isidor and Ida were last seen on deck sitting in deck chairs holding hands when a huge wave washed them into the sea. Major Archibald Butt, a military aide and friend of US President William Howard Taft, brought Marie Young, who had been a governess to the children of President Theodore Roosevelt, to the boat. She later recalled that he "wrapped blankets about me and tucked me in as carefully as if we were going on a motor ride." He wished her farewell and good luck, and asked her, "don't forget to remember me to the folks back home." Other single women were brought to the boats by men who had earlier offered their services to "unprotected ladies", as the conventions of the time dictated. Ruth Taussig put complaints about getting into the boat, before her daughter ushered her in.

After Titanic sank, Thomas Jones, the Able Seaman placed in charge of boat 8, suggested going back to save some of those in the water. Only four of the passengers agreed; the rest protested that they would be at risk of the boat being capsized by desperate swimmers. Jones had no choice but to acquiesce, but told the complaining passengers: "Ladies, if any of us are saved, remember I wanted to go back. I would rather drown with them than leave them." The passengers' conduct during the subsequent hours presented some striking contrasts.

Countess of Rothes, took the tiller of Lifeboat 8 in the 1997 Film 'Titanic'

The Countess of Rothes – who had been one of the few passengers to support going back to mount a rescue attempt – took charge of the tiller, putting the women to work on the oars. Her conduct was later complimented by Jones, who called her "more of a man than any we had aboard" and gave her the lifeboat's numeral 8, in a frame, as a keepsake. In contrast, Ella White was so annoyed that the stewards aboard were smoking that she complained about it to the subsequent US Senate inquiry into the disaster; she was particularly indignant that one of the ship's crewmen had told her, "If you don't stop talking through that hole in your face there will be one less in the boat!"

The occupants of boat 8 spent the night rowing towards what they thought were the lights of a ship on the horizon, but turned round at daybreak when the Carpathia arrived on the scene from the opposite direction. They had travelled further from the scene than any of the other lifeboats and had a long row back; it was not until 7:30 A.M. that they were picked up.

Occupants

• Thomas William Jones ---------------------------- Able Seaman (in charge)
• John Edward Hart --------------------------------Third Class Saloon Steward
• Charles Henry Pascoe* ----------------------------Able Seaman
• Albina Bassani ----------------------------------- maid of Emma Bucknell
• Nellie Mayo Bessette ------------------------------maid of Ella White
• Ellen Bird -----------------------------------------maid of Ida Straus
• Caroline Bonnell ----------------------------------First Class Passenger
• Miss Lily Bonnell*--------------------------------- First Class Passenger
• Emma Eliza Bucknell ------------------------------ Philadelphia heiress
• Gladys Cherry -------------------------------------cousin of the Countess of Rothes
• Sarah Rebecca Daniels ---------------------------- maid of Bess Allison
• Mrs. Marion Kenyon -------------------------------- First Class Passenger
• Mrs (Dr.) Alice Farnam Leader ---------------------- First Class Passenger
• Roberta Elizabeth Mary Maioni ---------------------maid of the Countess of Rothes
• Fermina Oliva Y Ocaña -----------------------------maid of Josefa Penasco
• Mrs. Edith Pears -----------------------------------First Class Passenger
• Josefa Peñasco de Satode ------------------------- First Class Passenger
• Lucy Noël Martha, Countess of Rothes -------------- who took charge of the lifeboat's tiller
• Miss E.W. Shutes ----------------------------------- maid of Margaret Graham
• Margaret Welles Swift ------------------------------First Class Passenger
• Mrs. Ruth Taussig ---------------------------------- First Class Passenger
• Mrs. Mary Taussig ----------------------------------First Class Passenger
• Ms. Tillie Taussig ----------------------------------- First Class Passenger
• Ms. Millie Taussig----------------------------------- First Class Passenger
• Ella White ------------------------------------------First Class Passenger
• Mrs. Mary Wick -------------------------------------First Class Passenger
• Miss Mary N. Wick ----------------------------------First Class Passenger
• Marie Grice Young ----------------------------------First Class Passenger
• Miss Maid Young -----------------------------------First Class Passenger

_{*= not certain}

Popular culture

Titanic (1953)

Lifeboat 8 being readied, as seen in Titanic (1953)

In the 1953 film, Lifeboat 8 appears while it is being readied and being loaded. It is likely that Maude Young escaped on this lifeboat, and she immediately helped row the boat. Mrs. Young also later discovered that Earl Meeker was disguised as a woman to get a place in boat 8.

A Night to Remember (1958)

Lifeboat 8 being loaded in A Night to Remember (1958)

In A Night to Remember, Lifeboat 8 was one of the first to be filled. Lightoller initiated the 'Women and children first' protocol, forcing a woman to leave her husband. An elderly woman who had sat on the lifeboat judged the protocol ridiculous and got out of the lifeboat.

When boat 8 is about to be lowered, a man sneaks into the lifeboat, only to be pulled back by Lightoller. The man said that there was still plenty of room in the boat, Lightoller countered that it was only for women and children.

1996 Miniseries Titanic

Lifeboat 8 (right) still being loaded around 1:55 AM, in the 1996 Miniseries Titanic

In the 1996 miniseries, Lifeboat 8 is shown as one of the last lifeboats to be launched from the port side, instead of being the second as happens in real life.

Titanic (1997)

Lifeboat 8 in the 1997 film Titanic, the Countess of Rothes hold of the tillers

In the 1997 film, lifeboat 8 was launched not long after lifeboat 6. The Countess of Rothes took hold of the lifeboat's tillers. When Thomas Andrews rebuked Lightoller for half-filling the lifeboats, he pointed to lifeboat 8, saying there were only about 20 souls on board, in a boat designed to accommodate 65.

2012 Miniseries Titanic

Alice and Trevor in Lifeboat 8, as seen in the 2012 Miniseries Titanic

In the 2012 miniseries, lifeboat 8 became the first to be launched from the port side (not the second as it happens in real life). During the launching, Georgiana Grex saw the Allison family's nanny, Alice Cleaver and baby Trevor in the lifeboat without the rest of the Allison family (Alice and Trevor escaped in lifeboat 11 in real life).

Fictional Occupants

1. Maude Young
2. Earl Meeker

Sources

1. _{'Titanic' ©1996 (second print, 1998) Edward P. De Groot -- Passengerlist Titanic p 175-186}